Common Ground ⌁ Draco Malfoy [2/4] ✔

27

The first thing Emma did after slamming the door behind her in the girls' dormitory was try to control her breathing. She was breathing so heavy and fast that it sounded very unlike her, and she felt moisture forming all over her forehead. Her mother was found at last, only washed up on a bank after being thrown into a lake. Whatever Dumbledore had said about the wounds on her mother's body suggesting that she was tortured went straight through Emma's ear and right out the other. Her theory was correct, and all because she had told someone she thought was a good friend who she was. 

Dinner came and went, but she remained sitting on her bed, crying like she had never cried before. The moment she heard footsteps, she pretended to be asleep before the door opened and Daphne, Millicent and Pansy stumbled in, whispering to each other. 

"She's asleep," whispered Daphne, and Emma heard her rocking back and forth on her feet. "Keep that light off."

"I'm surprised to see she's still here," Pansy whispered back, and Emma thought she heard a trace of pity in her voice. "Normally when a parent ends up dead, the other pulls their kid out of the school."

"I know, but I'm glad she's still here."

"Why, so you can hear her whinging for the rest of the term?" Pansy suddenly hissed, being hushed immediately by Daphne. 

Emma squeezed her eyes shut, trying her best to contain her sobs. It was true; Emma would not return to her home. She remembered a conversation between herself, her mum and her dad from last summer, where they were talking about Hogwarts being the safest place for her. She wondered if her dad would even want her back when the school term ended, it was always her mum keeping them together over the last summer. 

"Don't be so mean, Pansy, she's just lost her mother. You'd expect her to be whinging. If she didn't, I'd ask what the bloody hell is wrong with her."

"I ask myself that very question every day."

"Really, Pansy?" Daphne whispered, and it was obvious she rolled her eyes. 

Emma's sniffles silenced them immediately. Several minutes later she heard them arguing about whether or not to tell her that Draco had ended up in the hospital wing, but was shut down by Millicent - who somehow knew everything - telling them that she and Draco had broken up. Emma couldn't find it in her heart to care that Draco was in the hospital wing, as selfish as it was, because all she could think about was her mother's corpse washing up on a bank.  

Ten minutes later, almost asleep, Emma's wet, bloodshot eyes opened in annoyance when the girls began to whisper to each other again.

"I ought to teach that Potter a lesson," hissed Pansy. The light did not need to be switched on to know that there was a rather large sneer on her face. "Thinking he can just go ahead and curse Draco - who the hell does he think he is?"

Emma's heart missed a beat, and she felt a falling sensation in the pit of her stomach. Had Harry done something to Draco simply because he had broken up with her?

"You really believe that stupid, crybaby ghost?"

"Snape's been telling the other teachers," whispered Pansy. "He caught Potter in the act. Draco's lucky he didn't die! One good thing came out of it though."

"And what's that?"

"Have you really not been listening in on what people have been saying?"

"No, because it's all gossip, Pansy, that's all it is!"

"But it isn't," said Pansy, a sense of pride in her voice. "Potter isn't playing in the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw this Saturday. He has detention with Snape."

"And McGonagall agrees?" 

"Yep."

"Yes! Suck on that, Gryffindor!"

Emma did not have the effort to roll her eyes. In just two days all she had been hearing was bad luck. Draco broke up with her, her Mum was found dead, and now Harry had cursed Draco so badly that he ended up in the hospital wing. She knew she would be missing out on any sleep that evening...knowing well that all she would see was her mother's corpse floating in and out of her mind. 

It was lucky, though, that Dumbledore had been nice enough to give her as long as she needed. 

Next morning, without a wink of sleep, Emma walked up to the Great Hall with a quiet Daphne by her side. She had offered to bring down some breakfast to her instead of her having to come out and see people staring, whispering, but Emma didn't care. She managed to convince herself to get out of her bed plainly because she could not avoid everyone forever. 

"And perhaps after breakfast we could make a small trip to the hospital wing," Daphne said awkwardly, her eyes suddenly fascinated by the walls and the moving staircases above them. "If you want..."

"I'll pass," Emma muttered, walking faster when Seth looked at her. "I don't want to hear any of it," she said to Daphne. "I just want to think about something else for a little while."

"Well, that's only normal. Will you look at something else?" she suddenly hissed at a passing first-year, who simply looked up to see who she was walking past. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she took off running. "When do you think you'll come back to class?"

"I don't know," Emma shrugged, thinking about all the annoying homework and the fact that her brain would have to be at work. "I don't think I will for the rest of this week and the next. I won't be able to handle it. You know what? I've changed my mind," she said when they reached the giant doors to the Great Hall. "I'm going to go back to bed. Bring me back something, will you?"

Daphne nodded and offered a pitiful smile before walking into the Great Hall. Emma turned and quickly headed back down to the dungeons. She was starving, having missed dinner the previous night, but the fact that it felt as though everyone was staring at her when they weren't...that was what got to her. 

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A/N: I don't like Star Wars but...May the fourth be with you!